Lafayette plays Penn at the Palestra on Tuesday before hosting Navy in the league opener on Saturday, Jan. 12.

Lafayette trailed just once (18-16) and held a commanding 46-31 halftime lead on Johnson’s driving layup. The Leopards shot 29-for-58 (50 percent) for the game including 13-for-26 from 3-point range.

“Obviously, we shot well,” Leopards coach Fran O’Hanlon said. “We came out very strong in the first half and for the most part, I thought we played very well.”

The Leopards avenged last season’s 78-58 loss to the Highlanders (6-8) out of Newark, N.J.

“We had last year’s game in the back of our minds,” Hinrichs said. “We wanted to redeem ourselves.”

“They’re the best team we’ve played offensively and we played four Big East teams,” NJIT coach Jim Engles said. “They really execute well. We’re not a great offensive team. We rely on our defense and we left their shooters wide open. That’s a recipe for getting your butt kicked.”

Hinrichs, in particular, had a hot shooting hand. He made 7 of 8 shots overall and was 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Johnson shot 6-for-6 in the first half. Three of them were 3-pointers. He also distributed a game-high seven assists.

“The coaches have been telling me to be more aggressive,” Johnson said. “When I’m more aggressive it allows the other people to get open.”

Lafayette poured it on in the second half, opening up its biggest lead at 71-43 with 9:11 remaining.

“I give full credit to the Lafayette basketball team,” said NJIT sophomore forward Daquan Holiday, an Allen High School grad. “They have great shooters. It seemed like every time I turned around they made a shot.”

Lafayette committed just one turnover in the first half and wound up with a 37-28 edge on the boards despite being outrebounded 18-10 at halftime.

During one sequence, senior forward Levi Giese twice corralled offensive rebounds, converting the second one into a 12-footer from the baseline. Johnson and reserve guard Les Smith each made hustle plays that led to baskets at the other end.

“Fran’s teams are really tough to prepare for,” Engles said. “He’s one of the best offensive coaches in the country. They don’t make a lot of mistakes.”